The Mowry-Addison Mansion (“Echo”) was constructed between 1830 and 1832 on a 100-acre tract situated between the Allegheny River and present-day 51st and 52nd Streets, extending back over a mile. The property’s layout reflected a common rural landscape of the period, known as a ribbon farm, which had a short width of riverfront and large depth containing the farmland. This allowed several farm owners access to the river for transportation reasons without compromising fields and pastures.
At the time of home’s construction, the property was owned by Dr. Peter Mowry and his wife, Eliza Addison Mowry. Born in 1770, Dr. Peter Mowry was one of Pittsburgh's most prominent physicians during the first third of the 19th century. His medical practice made him wealthy, and he appears to have also profited from owning real estate in Downtown Pittsburgh, Lawrence County, Pennsylvania, and near Canton, Ohio. Mowry also taught medical students, was a trustee of the Western University of Pennsylvania (now the University of Pittsburgh) and was a vestryman of Trinity Episcopal Church, Downtown. He died in 1833, not long after 5134 Carnegie Street was built. Following his death, he willed the dwelling and furniture to his wife who lived in the mansion with family members until she died in 1871.
The house is historically significant because it is a significant example of domestic Greek Revival style within the city of Pittsburgh and its Lawrenceville neighborhood, its represents of early settlement patterns of the area prior to the expansion and annexation of Lawrenceville during the second half of the nineteenth century, and because it is a prominent feature of the neighborhood.
This nomination was researched and written at the request of the Mowry-Addison Mansion’s current owner and submitted in partnership.
